IN conjunction with its 10th year anniversary next year, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has expanded its banqueting offerings to include a full menu spread on the table to complement the traditional option of presenting dishes course by course.

The new banqueting offering, which will be available from January 1, 2015, will feature a tailor-made menu of appetisers and desserts at the table once guests are seated, followed by the main course of a hot sharing platter. Diners can hence choose the order they wish to eat, without following the traditional norm of having starters first, followed by main course and ending with dessert.

KLCC deputy general manager, Simon Lomas, said: “With our 10th anniversary on the horizon and in line with continuous efforts to enhance the guest experience and to further differentiate ourselves from the competition, the innovative culinary team felt an unconventional F&B service experience was the way to go.”

Executive chef Richmond Lim explained the centre’s newest banqueting concept is all about “providing choice (without) having to queue up at the buffet station, enjoying a selection of small bites but not in the traditional stand-up cocktail fashion, recognising the Malaysian heritage of sharing food (and) offering it in an elegant manner, exciting palates with taste and texture”.

At 3,157m2, KLCC’s fully-fledged kitchen is the largest in Malaysia. Furnished with advanced equipment and a designated area for food preparation behind every large function room, the facility can handle up to 6,000 meals a day.

AUSTRALIA’S business events sector received a major boost end-November when the Federal Government entered into a partnership to assist the industry during the bidding and event delivery process.

At the Australian Export Awards in Sydney, minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, said international business events are an integral part of the government’s economic diplomacy agenda and unveiled the historic new framework, Attracting Business Events to Australia: Role of Government Agencies.

The framework is a strategic collaboration between the Federal Government – through Austrade and Tourism Australia – and Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) as well as the business events sector to attract world-class events.

Welcoming the collaboration as a recognition of the importance of business events to the economy, AACB President Lyn Lewis-Smith, said: “This is a groundbreaking win for the sector. International business events offer high yield benefits beyond the event that drive prosperity for Australia and contribute to the visitor and knowledge economies.

“With the growth potential of Asian markets, government support and involvement is essential to ensure AACB is in the best-possible position to identify, bid for and win business events that align with the national priority areas, and better connect industry, academia, government and the private sector.”

Separately, in Sydney, 19 events worth a combined A$150 million (US$125.5 million) have been secured for International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) following news of the city being selected as host city for the International Chamber of Commerce World Chambers Federation World Chambers Congress in 2017.

Sydney will be the first Australian city to host the conference, will bring about 1,000 delegates and is worth A$3.3 million to the New South Wales economy.

The conference will be held in the new ICC Sydney at Darling Harbour and joins a growing list of prestigious global events that BESydney has secured for the new facilities.

FROM 2015 onwards, the China International Touchscreen Exhibition (C-TOUCH) will be jointly organised by Reed Exhibitions Greater China and Shanghai Kuozhan Exhibitions, as per an agreement between the two.

Inaugrated in 2008, C-TOUCH attracts professionals in the touchscreen industry and will be held in May in Shanghai and in November in Shenzhen, showcasing a range of Touch Panel modules and displays; components and materials such as sensors and IC; among other equipment and devices.

Reed Exhibitions Greater China president, Nat Wong, said: “By adding Reed’s international expertise to the excellent local knowledge and contacts already established by the C-TOUCH team, we are in a position to offer the industry a more comprehensive range of products and services; access to a broader spectrum of customers and the benefit of international-standard expertise for the fast-developing touchscreen sector.”

Shanghai Kuozhan Exhibitions Services general manager, Zhang Xiangkuo,said: “The cooperation with Reed Exhibitions will take C-TOUCH to another level. It heralds a definite shift in the competition landscape in the Shanghai and Shenzhen touchscreen industries.”

ASSOCIATIONS should not get too caught up with membership numbers but should instead build communities through sound content value to sustain in today’s environment, an advice attendees took away from the inaugural IT&CM Association Day held earlier this week.
Addressing industry players at the event, Oscar Cerezales, COO Asia-Pacific and global director of association services at MCI Group, said: “The rules of engagement must change. For too long now, associations have been keeping a very traditional approach towards membership, and now is the time for them to relook at this model.

“Instead of building membership numbers, associations need to get into the mind-set of building a community and consider their organisations as open professional communities rather than closed membership organisations.”

Cerezales suggests that associations have professionals interact with the association members so they can be engaged at a relevant level of interest that adds value personally and professionally.

“Fundamental to this mindset shift is the recognition that value is defined by the customer (the new member), not by the organisation. For example, they will realise that many of the new members do not care if they have the right to vote or influence the association’s direction – they are more interested in the association’s content and are willing to pay for it,” he elaborated.

Hence, Cerezales recommends that associations segment their target audiences and allow individuals (or new customer segments) to choose and apply their own perception of value to the community.

He said: “These new rules of engagement effectively serve as an extended recruitment strategy while at the same time expand the association’s outreach and member base.”
Herman Ng, founder of Games Exchange Alliance Singapore, concurred, saying his 30-member strong association relies on a tiered membership system. While the paying members have voting rights, the others who do not thrive instead on the networking opportunities within the gaming industry.
He added: “Our association is driven by volunteers so we must ensure that people can see the value and can identify with the passion in this industry to keep the association going.”
David Chng, Asia-Pacific director of CHWMEG, a non-profit, 270-member trade association that promotes environmental stewardship programmes, said while he does not face any challenge in membership, he agrees on the importance of adding value to content to the members to sustain the association.
He said: “We see the value of education especially in our industry because it is all about knowledge exchange, so that is our selling point.”

HONG Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (KTCT) could soon be seeing charter ferry services if discussions between operator Worldwide Cruise Terminals (WCT) and government authorities work out.

The terminal last week completed a trial berthing of charter ferry services, carrying 300 passengers across the Victoria Harbour from a Wanchai convention centre to the terminal for an evening function.

Jeff Bent, managing director of WCT, said in a statement: “WCT had earlier worked with various government departments and the ferry operator to perform technical trials. These measures ensured passenger safety and that the facilities and security of the KTCT would not be affected by the ferry operation.”

“Once long-term operational approvals are granted by the relevant authorities, and subject to commercial agreement, this method of transportation will be available for special events held at the KTCT in the future. Event organisers and cruise lines will be able to arrange service times and routes for charter ferry service with the ferry operator.”

Bent added that WCT and a ferry operator are currently in talks with the Hong Kong government regarding the construction of a public ferry pier, which would allow for regular ferry services linking KTCT, North Point, Kwun Tong, and other destinations as well.

Besides welcoming cruise ships, KTCT is also used as a venue for product launches, cocktail parties, and sporting events, among others.

FOLLOWING the city’s entry into China’s alliance for incentive travel, Suzhou is setting up the Suzhou MICE & Travel Promotion Centre.

The centre is drawing organisations including the Suzhou Municipal Tourism Administration, cultural tourism companies, Suzhou Industrial Park, and Taihu National Tourist Resort to work together.

It aims to package the city’s top hotels, scenic spots, cultural and recreational activities, and launch these incentive travel products through integrated marketing approaches.

Suzhou’s 2,500-year old heritage and attractions, plus its accessibility from Shanghai, have increased the city’s tourism receipts significantly in recent years, and the Suzhou MICE & Travel Promotion Centre is likely to further boost its tourism revenue.

Suzhou MICE & Travel Development’s director of operation, Wang Zhang Rong, explained that Suzhou is planning to develop high-end incentive tourism product emphasising its cultural heritage.

These include garden conferences, lakeside incentive tourism products, conference activities in the ancient walled city, and various cultural activities distinctive to Suzhou.

The 2014 Suzhou Cup has also stimulated the research and design of travel products and the integration of tourism with cultural and commercial activities distinctive to Suzhou.

Wang further noted that many cities are similarly working to boost their incentive tourism sectors. Looking forward, Suzhou will seek to develop special travel products and promote the city at major incentive travel exhibitions.

Translated from the original TTG China e-Daily article, November 18, 2014 by Ong Yanchun

FCM Travel Solutions is keen to capture a piece of the MICE pie with the launch of the new FCm MICE team in Singapore.

Leveraging FCm’s parent company, Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Mark Ten, general manager of FCm Travel Solutions, said this support would give FCm “global negotiating muscle to deliver the most competitive prices on all travel, meetings and events requests”.

Ten said: “Establishing FCm MICE is part of our five-year plan at FCTG to boost our operations in Singapore. We have been fielding smaller meeting and incentive requests from our corporate client base for some time, and now is the right time to extend ourselves into MICE.

“We see offering expertise in the MICE sector as a natural extension of our corporate offering, and necessary as part of an end-to-end service for our corporate clients,” Ten added.

While the MICE team has three staff now, Ten added that the number will be grown to seven. FCm MICE, which will tackle both inbound and outbound MICE, will handle approximately 10 per cent of the overall business in FCTG.

Emphasising that FCm MICE has an advantage over the competition because of its ability to build on FCTG’s existing network, he said: “MICE planners are always looking for creative programmes with more interesting and non-traditional offerings, yet this is also a very price-sensitive segment and customers want a lot more value for less.

“As such, we have a network of suppliers and DMCs that we can leverage, and close relationships with NTOs that will allow us to tap into new ideas for immersive experiences,” Ten added.

MELBOURNE has nabbed the rights to host the International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC) in May 2019.

This conference will see 1,000 international delegates in the city for six days, with an estimated economic contribution of approximately A$5 million (US$4 million) to the state.

Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) CEO Karen Bolinger said that the process used to win the IPAC 2019 conference was a good illustration of the collaborative nature of all Melbourne bids.

She said: “MCB has collaborated with the Synchrotron team – all leaders in their respective fields – to prepare a comprehensive bid proposal that demonstrated the intellectual capital available to delegates attending the conference. IPAC 2019 is our seventh collaborative win and the biggest so far.”

Dean Morris, head of corporate services at the Australian Synchrotron, said: “In its seven years of operation, the Australian Synchrotron – one of only two such facilities in the Southern Hemisphere – has helped forge many international partnerships and collaborations between Australia and other researchers around the world.”

“Most recently, it has been a founding partner in the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science, which seeks to raise the profile of Australian Accelerator Science in the world community. Hosting IPAC in 2019 would be the flagship event for this collaboration, and would firmly place Australia on the world science map.”

AUSTRALIA has beat out the competition to host the next World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2018 at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney).

WCOA is a platform for participants to listen to leaders of the finance industry, exchange views, and debate about trends with other accounting and finance professionals from around the world.

The event is estimated to be worth US$18 million and will see the country hosting more than 5,000 accounting professionals in Sydney.

Troy Grant, New South Wales deputy premier and minister for trade and investment, said: “This is the latest high-profile international event to be secured for the ICC Sydney. It’s one of 18 international business events locked in for Sydney and New South Wales, representing a combined estimated economic impact of close to US$150 million.”

The bid was led by Alex Malley from CPA Australia, Lee White from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, and was supported by Business Events Sydney, the New South Wales government, and Australian representatives.

THE Philippines’ efforts to get back into the MICE loop are paying off, judging from the sharp increase in the number of exhibition and event organisers coming in.

Marisa D Nallana, chair, Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS) said that foreign groups have started mounting events and fairs here during the past few years.

Among these are three Singapore-based Conference & Exhibition Management Services of Singapore, APAC Expo, and Terrapinn; UBM Exhibitions Philippines, which is a member of the UBM Asia Group of Companies; and AMB Exhibition of Malaysia.

Nallana said: “Some foreign organisers and mergers & acquisition companies are in the Philippines to set up a representative office, team up with local organisers for shows/events, buy local fairs to add to their list of exhibitions, and tie up with local organisers for international exhibitions.”

“Thai organisers have come to check out the major venues here. They are looking into possible collaboration for certain exhibitions.”

NTOs are also making their enthusiasm known.

“Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau is open to collaboration with PACEOS and major industry associations. Likewise Singapore Tourism Board and Taiwan External Trade Development Council,” she said, adding that these developments prove the Philippines’ image is improving.